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The Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), also known commonly as the Red River giant softshell turtle, the Shanghai softshell turtle, the speckled softshell turtle, and Swinhoe's softshell turtle, is an extremely rare species of turtle in the family Trionychidae. It may be the largest living freshwater turtle in the world.
A possible third species, Rafetus leloii Hà, 2000 (synonym R. vietnamensis Le et al., 2010), known commonly as the Hoan Kiem turtle, has been proposed as a species. It is considered a junior synonym of Rafetus swinhoei by most authorities, [2] but some Vietnamese scientists insist the two forms are not identical. The last known individual at ...
Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) Tortoises. Russian tortoise (Agrionemys horsfieldii) Elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata)
Giant softshell turtle may refer to the following: . Asian giant softshell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii), or Cantor's giant softshell turtle; New Guinea giant softshell turtle (Pelochelys bibroni)
Phylogenetic analyses in 2014 have estimated that the two living Rafetus species (R. swinhoei and R. euphraticus) diverged 20 million years ago, in the Early Miocene. [2] R. bohemicus is just slightly younger than this time of divergence, at 17.5 million years old, coinciding with a period of global warming known as the Mid-Miocene Climatic ...
The Hoàn Kiếm turtle, also Rafetus leloii, was an obsolete or controversial taxon of turtle from Southeast Asia, based on specimens from Hoàn Kiếm Lake in Hanoi, Vietnam. Most experts classify this turtle as synonymous with the rare Yangtze giant softshell turtle ( Rafetus swinhoei ), although some Vietnamese biologists asserted that R ...
The largest extant freshwater turtle is possibly the North American alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii), which has an unverified maximum reported weight of 183 kg (403 lb), although this is challenged by several rare, giant softshell turtle from Asia (Rafetus and Pelochelys) unverified to 200 kg (440 lb) and nearly 2 m (6 ft 7 in ...
Large soft-shell turtles, either of the species Rafetus swinhoei or a separate species named Rafetus leloi in honor of the emperor, had been sighted in the lake for many years. The last known individual was found dead on January 19, 2016. There are three remaining turtles of the species R. swinhoei.